Marx's 'Communist Manifesto' Most Frequently Taught Text in U.S. Colleges

Must be why millennials prefer socialism over capitalism.

Great news, America! Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto is the most frequently taught text in U.S. colleges.

This depressing bit of information comes courtesy of Open Syllabus, a project that tracks books and assignments in over one million course syllabi. The project uses an algorithm to mine data from public sites and analyzes what it finds.

Though the organization admits it is continually working out all of the kinks in their program, the current data over at least the last ten years puts Marx's work at the top of the list by a long shot compared to other works.

Other notable books on the list were Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf and Vladimir Lenin's What Is To Be Done, yet they were much further down the list than Marx. The Bible, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

In related news, CNBC reports that millennials prefer socialism over capitalism. Not hard to believe knowing the kind of "higher education" some of them are receiving. Writing the column is Steve Odland, once a CEO of Office Depot and AutoZone, now CEO of the Committee for Economic Development:

Throughout our history, hard work, risk-taking, and trust in our free-market capitalist system have propelled our nation and millions of people up the economic ladder. But now nearly four in ten Americans believe that hard work and determination are no guarantee of success. Even worse, millennials now view socialism more positively than capitalism.

One reason he adds to the mix is the distaste for crony capitalism and its tendency to "benefit the few over the many."

"When a company can prosper on a subsidy rather than by winning in the marketplace, complacency sets in and breakthroughs plummet," Odland states. "All this places limits on our quality of life." He continues:

In a free-market, capitalist system, businesses should compete unassisted, and be rewarded only if their goods and services successfully meet consumer demands.

We risk losing the system that has created the greatest wealth and prosperity ever known to mankind, the one that has allowed us to project democracy and freedom around the world, and lift millions of people out of poverty. It is a system to be nurtured and protected from threats, and cronyism is a huge threat.